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Malak
Malak, '''also known as '''Lord Malak, is a malevolent and powerful demon and the main antagonist of Dark Deception. Biography Malak serves as the owner of a ring known as the Riddle of Heaven, which grants its user his demonic powers. To ensure no one would fully obtain it, the ring was split into nine pieces and placed in isolated realms owned by himself, each guarded by his loyal servants. Countless individuals (who are implied to have been sent to purgatory to seek redemption) were sent by Bierce to obtain these ring fragments, leading to their long-lasting rivalry. Most, if not all of these participants perished in an attempt to retrieve these pieces, having either died to Malak himself or his servants, who appeared as the victims' fears. For each victim killed, Malak would create a shard out of their spiritual remnants, trapping them within his labyrinths. Every new participant would then be forced to collect all of the previous victims' shards, all while being pursued by their nightmares. Doug Houser, an individual seeking redemption for their guilty past, became the first participant to have successfully obtained Malak's ring pieces, allowing Bierce to grant him a special ability with each piece obtained. Malak, appalled by his tenacity and success, cast threats and pleas toward him, even claiming that Bierce is deceiving him. Malak would eventually confront Doug physically within his nightmares, transforming into a phantom in an attempt to kill him. To prevent him from escaping, he resorted to unleashing more powerful servants to hunt him down, including his loyal pet. Despite this, Doug manage to strategically defeat or escape them, much to Malak's chagrin. 'Appearance' Door In Bierce's Ballroom, Malak appears as a large, beady, bloodshot eye on a big door that is possibly the exit. Humanoid Malak appears physically in Chapter 2, in the level "Elementary Evil". He has two different looks. In one look, he resembles a slender, middle-aged man with dark red skin, empty soulless eyes, a Jack-o-lantern shaped mouth, long curved devil-like horns, and wearing a black suit with a red tie. Phantom His next form emerges (Sometimes called "Phantom Malak") when he chases the player, he resembles a reaper while retaining his other look. His skin appears a little orange. His mouth and eyes glow a yellow-orange color. His horns are also thinner and straight. 'Behavior' While inside Bierce's Ballroom, Malak will remain harmlessly on the door as an eye. As the player progresses through the game, Malak will attempt to block the level entrances, which can only be bypassed with the use of powers. After most levels, Malak and Bierce will engage in dialogue, with Doug being the unseen third party of the conversations. Malak will often claim Bierce is deceiving Doug and expresses his progressive anger in their successes. Monkey Business Malak is first heard speaking after obtaining the first ring piece, aggravated by Doug's theft. Bierce then explains he knows that Doug is there, hurrying them to escape. As the player is leaving, a swarm of Murder Monkeys emerges from the elevators to pursue the player. Though Malak is not visibly among them, he does taunt the player as they are escaping. Elementary Evil Malak makes his first physical appearance in the second level of the game, appearing as a humanoid, and as a phantom when chasing the player. Before Act 2 of "Elementary Evil", he can be seen above Doug strolling on a walkway. He'll then laugh at the player before teleporting away. During Act 3, he'll become an enemy. Agatha will join him if the player activates one of her fake portals. Once he becomes active, he will actively pursue the player at medium speed, being able to catch up to them if they slow down. He is immune to the effects of reveal and stun shards and can phase through doorways. He will cease chase as soon as the player enters the auditorium. Deadly Decadence Malak's physical form returns at this level, first seen watching over the player on the manor's balcony upon entering. Similar to the previous level, Malak will then laugh and disappear. Malak will give chase after collecting all Soul Shard, but before the level's ring piece is obtained, resulting in him disappearing after that. He will then accompany the Gold Watchers on the way back to the portal, pursuing Doug in the courtyard. He will reappear in the region containing the portal along with a set of Gold Watchers in an attempt to block the exit. Upon returning to Bierce's Ballroom, Malak will offer another warning to the player, insisting the player will suffer consequences if they were to bring Bierce all of the ring pieces. Bierce will then remark how his reputation and infliction would mark him untrustworthy, to which he merely groans in exhaustion. Stranger Sewers In the end of Act 2, Malak will appear and chase the player until they obtain the ring piece from the ring altar. Once the ring piece is collected, a cutscene will play where Malak compliments the player for their progress and how loyal they are to Bierce. Then, he tells the player that he also has a loyal pet, and the large gate opens behind him revealing the Doom Ducky. He soon says that business calls elsewhere and that he’ll settle matters with Bierce soon. When Doug is trying to escape the Sewers, he will say that the player is not out yet. Once the player returns to Bierce's ballroom, Malak says that he is vexed by Doug still being alive, tells what the consequences that will happen after Bierce receives all the ring pieces, and asks Bierce to tell Doug what happened to the last person that trusted her, to which she turns her back to the screen, replying with an annoyed sigh. Crazy Carnevil In the beginning of Act 1, Malak's laugh can be heard while the player is sliding into the level, marked by his eyeball decoration. At the end of Act 3, Malak will once again chase you until you get back to the ring altar tent and collect the ring piece. When the player attempts to escape to the portal, a cutscene will play where Malak will appear in front of the carousel in his demon form meeting with the player once again and summons the four Goliath Clowns. After the player defeats the Goliath Clowns, he will become upset, angry and chase the player one last time until they reach the portal. After the player returns to Bierce's ballroom, Malak will say that Bierce is delaying the inevitable and she won't keep him out of her pocket dimension forever, and to come collect the ring pieces and bring his monsters to pay for what Bierce and the player have done. He will give another warning to Doug about giving Bierce all of the ring pieces and tells them to enjoy ignoring him as it won't last. Abilities Shape-shift First seen in Elementary Evil, Malak is able to transform to a humanoid figure and later a ghastly phantom while in pursuit of the player, this displays his power to morph into other beings by will. Levitation It is unknown whether Malak has the ability to fly, but when he spawns in most levels, Malak chases the Protagonist in his Phantom form while floating in midair instead of on foot, showing his power to levitate. Intangibility In Malak's Phantom form, it seems his physical body does not obey the laws of physics, allowing him to phase through doors and gates with ease. This is currently limited to these elements. Teleportation Malak displays this ability at every level, allowing him to vanish and presumably travel to certain points of interest in a instant. (As of now, this is only used during story purposes, as he never utilizes this ability while in active pursuit.) Divinity (possibly) Unlike other monsters in the nightmares, Malak seems to be a superior being compared to them, with some of them even addressing his superiority over them (for instance Agatha calling him "Daddy", the Reaper Nurse(s) calling him "lord Malak", and the Doom Ducky killing the player for him). Perhaps because of his demonic attributes, Malak is also completely immune to the reveal and stun effects of special shards within the nightmares, which are on the other hand significantly effective against normal enemies. He is also immune to the stun effects of Primal Fear, but can still be revealed by Telepathy. 'Trivia' * When Malak kills the player, the words "Come here!" can be heard. * The voice actor of Malak, Christopher Corey Smith, also voices over the Gold Watchers, Clown Gremlins, and Goliath Clowns. * Originally, Malak was meant to have a slit eye when on the door. This can be seen in the 2015 Alpha demo of the game, though his eye doesn't move to look at the player. * In Glowstick Entertainment's first Devlog, Malak can be seen chasing the protagonist through a burning Ballroom, leading some to speculate, that he might be the final boss after beating all the levels. * As Malak is implied to be a demon, it suggests the realm which houses Bierce's Ballroom is in some form of purgatory and Malak's power cannot harm the ones within as Bierce explains after "[[Monkey Business|'Monkey Business']]"'''. However, since Malak can move freely, shape-shift, and perform various abilities like teleportation while in the nightmares, one may assume those nightmares are indeed a part of hell, in which Malak can fully unleash his demonic capabilities. * Malak may represent Daemonophobia (fear of demons). One may assume that he may even represent Satan. ** However, as Malak is not a subject of the player's nightmares, this is probably false. * His name means "angel" in Arabic (ملاك), perhaps hinting that he´s not the true villain of the game. ** It could also allude to him being a fallen angel, thus explaining his demonic persona. ** Malak is also somewhat of a different spelling for Moloch, the Canaanite god for child-sacrifice, which may also allude to some details from the story of Dark Deception as a whole. * In the second level of the alpha version of the game, there is a poster that reads "Lord Ereshkigal sees all", and a picture of a demon. This likely indicates that Malak's original name was '''Ereshkigal. ** Ereshkigal was the Goddess of the Underworld in Sumerian mythology. * Malak is currently the only enemy in the game where Easy and Normal Mode Difficulties doesn't affect his speed or behavior whatsoever as in both difficulties, he seems to have the same speed. ** The only other enemy to not have their speed change is the Clown Car (but their behaviour changes). * It is confirmed that Malak will be in the Dark Deception Crossovers. * Currently, Malak, the Murder Monkeys and Agatha are the only enemies to have a dark background when killing the player. Vince Livings explained in the "Meet the Dark Deception Team" video that the reason for that was to prevent bugs from happening. * Malak's eye decoration in Crazy Carnevil is of his Door Form from the alpha, not the current version. Category:Males Category:Characters Category:Chapter 1 Category:Chapter 2 Category:Chapter 3 Category:Chapter 4 Category:Chapter 5 Category:Enemies